MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 121, 23 May 1914, Page 6

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

PURGING THE ROLLS HAS IT BECOME A DEAD-LETTER? 1 What is apparently an omission from the Municipal Corporations Act, dealing with elections, was drawn attention to at the last meeting of the Onslow Borougli Council, but no action was taken by the council, members being of opinion that it would be better to leave it to the Municipal Association to deal with. 'Ihe following letter, written by Mr. Henry Abraham, Town Clerk ol' the borough, addressed to Mr. T. F. Martin, counsel to the Municipal Association, was read ; — • , "Re purging of electoral rolls, I should be obliged by having your opinion upon the following : —Regulation 6 of regulations under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1908, states : 'The Town Clerk shall omit from the district electors' list the name of every person whose name appears on the district electors' roll for the 1 preceding year in respect of a residential qualification, and who, not being a candidate at such, election, has not voted either at the general election of councillors or the ilast election of Mayor held since the entry "of his name on the roll,' I believe that 'prior to the 1910 amendment of the .Municipal Corporations' Act, 1908, no machinery was provided for purging section 1, subsection 8, provided that the marked * copies of rolls used at an election should be handed over by the returning officer to the Town Clerk, who was to retain them until the close of the next succeeding general election of councillors". Now, section 13 of the Local Elections and Polls Amendment Act, 1913, repeals that provision ; and section 12 of the same Act requires the returning* officer as soon as practicable to seal up 'all copies of the roll,' etc., together with the nsed Voting papers, and transmit the package to the Clerk of the nearest Magistrate's Court. My question, therefore, is : Is the purging of the electoral rolls to be considered (a) superseded ; (b) again without machinery?" In the course of his legal, opinion, in reply to Mr. Abraham's letter, Mr. T. F. Martin said : ''The only opporiunity that the Town Clerk has of complying with Regulation 6 is by inspecting the rolls during the interval between the day of election and the sealing up of the rolls." , The interval of time referred to would be according to the number of electors that is required to check the rolls for duplicate voting and the three days after the announcement of the final figures allowed for objection. Mr. Martin, in his opinion, also says : "That while there is now no duty cast upon the returning oificer to hand the rolls to the Town Clerk, there is no legislative enactment forbidding the returning officer to allow the Town Clerk to' inspect the rolls for the purposes of Regulation 6 during the said interval." Mr. Martin concludes his legal opinion as follows: — "It is no doubt to be desired that the same express provision should be made, by statute or regulation, on the subject of the inspection of the rolls by the Town Clerk for the purpose ol' . Regulation No. 6."